


I've never had a friend before

by JesusChristsuzIe



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Character Study, Fluff, Fluffy Ending, Friendship is Magic, Other, Platonic Relationships, Platonic Soulmates, Protective Toph Beifong, Toph Beifong-centric
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-10
Updated: 2020-09-10
Packaged: 2021-03-06 16:22:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,827
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26391859
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JesusChristsuzIe/pseuds/JesusChristsuzIe
Summary: Toph had never had friends before, but she'd protect these ones till the day she died
Relationships: Aang & Toph Beifong, Aang & Toph Beifong & Katara & Sokka & Suki & Zuko, Toph Beifong & Katara, Toph Beifong & Sokka, Toph Beifong & Suki, Toph Beifong & Zuko
Comments: 8
Kudos: 187





	I've never had a friend before

Toph had never had friends before.

She was the delicate, little blind girl. She was pretty sure no one outside the Beifong household even knew of her existence. The closest she ever came growing up was a young servant around her age, named Hua. She was nice enough, but she was always worried about saying the wrong thing and always did whatever Toph wanted, which, sure, was her job, but that wasn't a friend. At least not the kind Toph wanted.

And, yeah, she went to the Earth Rumbles, but she wasn't friends with any of the other competitors. She was pretty sure they hated her, just because they couldn't handle being beaten by a little blind girl.

So when she first met the avatar and _his_ friends, she didn't know how to act. They were nice, but they were already so close and, at times, she just felt excluded. The only times she really felt at ease was when she was earth bending with Aang, he was so bubbly and accepting, always preaching about love and friendship. And she felt confident when she was bending, growing up it was the only way she could really be herself, it was an extension of herself.

It was all she really knew, she had never really spoken to anyone apart from her parents and servants and her competitors in the Earth Rumble, she didn't have to lift a finger at home, and only ever left to fight. Earth bending was her life, it was her anchor, it helped her see, it was her only real practical skill. She didn't know how to make fires, or set up tents, or pack up their stuff, or fly Appa. So when she taught Aang, she was confident, she was comfortable, it was easy and she was happy.

The hardest person to get along with was Katara. Toph's first impression was that she was overbearing and bossy, she always thought she knew best, telling Toph what to do, shouting at her for absolutely _no reason._ She was exhausting to be around. She had a complete disregard for Toph's lack of experience.

Toph didn't want to be pitied for her disability, she was different from everyone else, but it didn't make her less than, and she didn't need people treating her like it. But she was born into nobility, overbearing, overprotective nobility at that. She had no experience camping, or living 'rough'. She didn't actually know how to help the camp, and it felt like Katara had no appreciation of that. She didn't offer to help Toph, or tell her how to do stuff, she just told her to do it. And it wasn't like Toph was just going to admit that she couldn't.

She worked hard to get people to respect her, respect her ability, she didn't need them to see her as a dumb, helpless child of nobility. She was Toph, the greatest earth bender in the world. So she hid her inability and inexperience in anger and snide comments. Katara became 'Sugar Queen' and camp set up became hiding under an earth tent. But Toph didn't like all the time she spent alone, in the dampness of her tent, she wanted to be outside, with everyone else, practicing her bending, or sitting round a fire, even helping forage for food, no matter how useless she'd be at that.

But Toph had never had friends before, she didn't know how to offer help, or ask for it return, she didn't want to admit her shortcomings or loneliness. So she sat underneath her little pile of dirt and stewed in her own sadness and anger.

It wasn't until she spoke to Sokka, of all people, that she was able to see both sides of the story, able to see that, no matter what, these people were her friends, and little things, like never having put up a tent before, weren't going to get in the way of that.

Soon enough, Katara was probably Toph's best friend. She cared for Toph in a way nobody ever had before, she was loyal and protective and took the time to make Toph feel happy and seen, like her input mattered.

She was the first one to make Toph feel beautiful.

That didn't mean it was easy though, they still had arguments and disagreed over almost everything. Apparently scamming rich lowlifes out of their money wasn't ethical or whatever. But Katara was fun and kind, and that was all that mattered to Toph.

Sokka was a lot easier to get along with. He was a simple guy with simple needs. Namely meat. He was loud and obtrusive, throwing himself in where he didn't belong, and acting as if he'd been there his entire life. Toph liked this about him, she could relate to needing to intrude in on everyone else, because otherwise you weren't going to be included at all. She could admire the kind of bravery needed to throw yourself into other people, whether they wanted you or not. (After she noticed this, she always made the effort to invite Sokka first, before he threw himself in without warning. She knew how nice it could feel to be wanted.)

He managed to surprise Toph more than once. He was more attuned with his emotions than she ever would have thought, and helped her see things from a new light, always offering a new perspective, seeing every side of the story, no matter how unreasonable the other side was being. He helped her get a handle on her own feelings on multiple occasions too, shining a light on parts of her personality she didn't even know existed. She couldn't say she was always grateful for that part of him, though.

He was fiercely loyal. Everything he did, he did for his friends, for his family. Toph was proud to say she was a part of it.

Aang was _Aang_. He was loud and bubbly and all together too trusting. He was also the person Toph could be most herself around. He had been the first to welcome her into the group, his arms open wide. He was her age too, a few months younger even, though Toph still wasn't quite sure how that worked. He was annoying and way too friendly, but he was easy and he didn't judge, which was more than she could say for Katara.

He was also unfailingly kind. To everyone. Every villager, every animal, every insect and soldier. They all recieved at least a little Aang hospitality. But especially his friends. Aang didn't always understand social cues, he wasn't very perceptive and could be pretty oblivious and even insensitive at times, but he tried, so hard, to be there for the people he cared about.

Toph knew he held on to guilt for too long, he didn't think he was able to make mistakes, the Avatar had to be perfect, the Avatar had a responsibility, the Avatar couldn't afford to make mistakes. Nevermind the fact that the Avatar was twelve.

Toph tried her best never to blame anything on him, never to make him feel solely responsible, or like her problems were his fault. Of course, she couldn't let everything slide, if he did something wrong she told him, loudly and bluntly, but she also forgave him, loudly and quickly.

He didn't need anymore guilt weighing him down.

Suki was cool. Suki was, in fact, the coolest person she had ever met in her entire life. How she could ever fight with _fans_ , in a _dress_ , was beyond Toph.

If Toph wasn't the greatest earthbender of all time, she would be begging Suki to teach her to fight with fans at all hours of the day. Maybe even to join the Kyoshi Warriors.

Suki was the most laidback member of their group, by far. She was kind of quiet, piping up every now and then with a well placed joke (usually at Sokka's expense). She was also incredibly smart, like ridiculously smart. When she offered her input, it was well thought out, and detailed. She took the necessary time to properly process and consider things before answering. Laying out logical solutions, and proposing problems or barriers the others wouldn't have even thought about. 

Suki was loving too, she took care of those around her, taking time for them, as well as herself, and made sure everyone was recharged and happy and relaxed. 

She was the second person in the world to truly make Toph feel beautiful.

(She would never admit it, but she had secretly loved spa days with Katara and Suki, and still missed them sometimes. She didn't think it counted as a real spa day, considering they had only really been able to sit in their beach wear, behind the house in a pit Toph had dug out, full of water that Katara bended in, but it was fun and relaxing and Toph had looked forward to those days all week.)

Zuko was _intense_. He was a sheltered rich kid with overbearing parents and a lifetime of racist propaganda. 

He really did deserve the not-as-much-of-jerk-as-you-could-have-been award.

Toph didn't really know what to make of him the first few weeks he was with them. He was quiet and reclusive, he had spent almost all his time in the air temple alone, so deep in that Toph couldn't even feel his footsteps. And when he was with everyone else, he was silent the entire time, he sat further away ate quicker, and kept his head down.

His heartbeat was crazy fast too. Toph wondered on multiple occasions if it was healthy, and how he'd been able to survive so long when it felt like his heart was about to beat right out of his chest. 

He calmed down, eventually. No thanks to Katara. After he and Aang went on their 'lifechanging field trip', he spoke a little more often. And Toph was able to get him to warm up to her.

He was awkward and pretty socially inept, but he was fun and he had a surprising dry sense of humour that always managed to catch her off guard. 

Whether he knew he was being funny was still up for debate.

Zuko didn't love others easily, but when he did, he loved hard. He put his life on the line for them time and time again. 

He heart had stopped when she heard how he'd thrown himself in front of Katara.

He was reckless and stupid and never quite thought things through. He couldn't quite tell a real joke, and spoke about his Uncle a little too often. He always smelt like jasmine tea and burnt wood, a smell which she was surprised to realise she found comforting.

Zuko couldn't trust people easily, but she was so grateful that he put his trust in her.

Toph had never had friends before, but she would protect these ones until the day she died.

**Author's Note:**

> I love toph and I love found family tropes and this wasn't great but if you made it this far then thank you 
> 
> (Also I talk about her disability but I have never had one before so if what I said was wrong or like offensive in any way please tell me)


End file.
